NASA’S Deep Space Network has completed a number of upgrades to help support the fleet of more than two dozen spacecraft touring the solar system. Among the upgrades is the addition of a new 34-meter (110-foot) antenna near Madrid, Spain, which began operations on November 1, 2003.
November 1st, 2003
The Dish again at NASA’s cosmic service The Age
More than 34 years after the Parkes radio telescope relayed to the world pictures of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon, NASA has commissioned it again, this time to help manage a looming cosmic traffic jam. US ambassador Tom Schieffer yesterday visited the western NSW town to launch the radio telescope’s new role in tracking a fleet of probes exploring Mars and the outer limits of the solar system.
October 31st, 2003
Parkes prepares for US ambassador visit ABC Central West
Parkes’ residents in eastern central NSW are today readying themselves for a visit to their town by the US ambassador to Australia, Tom Schieffer. Parkes has a long association with the United States through its radio telescope. Mr Schieffer’s visit will acknowledge the 42nd anniversary of the commissioning of the “Dish”.
October 8th, 2003
Red Planet Calling: How Mars Probes Phone Home
With four spacecraft from three space agencies on the way to Mars, a communications crunch at the Red Planet is hardly unexpected. But managers of NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) believe they are ready to handle the traffic. The network is Earth’s prime hotline for planetary and deep space missions launched by NASA and other space agencies. It includes tracking stations in Australia, Spain and California responsible for receiving signals from all of the Mars probes, as well as the Cassini mission to Saturn and Stardust’s Wild-2 comet rendezvous among others.
June 29th, 2003
Signals from space JPL set for challenge of tracking several missions San Gabriel Valley Tribune
By January 2004, three rovers will trundle across the surface of Mars and two satellites will join a pair already in orbit there. Two spacecraft will perform a delicate dance with dusty comets, and another 20 or so scattered through space will continue their own journeys. All need the Deep Space Network to talk to Earth.
May 5th, 2003
Klipsch Receives Grant To Analyze Communication Networks On Planetary Rovers
The Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at New Mexico State University was recently awarded a three-year, $650,000 grant from the NASA Glenn Research Center. The grant, which is under the Space Communication Program, will fund research regarding the modeling, simulation and analysis of the data communications network for autonomous, planetary rovers, said Phillip L. De Leon, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering.
May 2nd, 2003
On the Edge: Interplanetary Internet
On the freezing surface of Mars, a sensor takes readings of the thin atmosphere and transmits the data to an automated rover, which relays the information to an orbiting satellite. From there, the data packets are sent to an approaching research ship, where astronauts study the readings and send their findings back to Earth, via e-mail. Via e-mail?! This may sound like science fiction, but it is becoming science fact.
April 28th, 2003
NMSU wired for Mars project The Albuquerque Tribune
New Mexico State University has a question for the Martians: Can you hear us now? The university was awarded a three-year, $650,000 grant from the National Air and Space Administration to design a wireless communications network for planetary rovers on Mars. The network will let NASA rovers on Mars quickly and easily transmit their findings back to Earth, said Stephen Horan, an electrical engineering professor who will help lead the project.
March 5th, 2003
ESA’s first deep space ground station opens in Western Australia
The inauguration ceremony for the European Space Agency’s first deep space ground station was held today in New Norcia, 150km north of Perth. The completion of the New Norcia facility, its first deep space ground station, is an important event for ESA. The station will play a major role in the Agency’s deep space missions, including Rosetta and Mars Express, the latter expected to launch in May this year.
February 28th, 2003
Fireys save Mission to Mars The Australian
IF NASA’s latest super-duper space buggy finds life on Mars this time around, humankind should thank the firefighters of the ACT. When the outskirts of Canberra were burning five weeks ago, a legion of NASA scientists in the US feared they would lose one of their prime space tracking stations, the Tidbinbilla plant 35km southwest of the nation’s capital. The loss of Tidbinbilla’s dishes would have been catastrophic, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory director Charles Elachi told a gathering of firefighters, space scientists and technicians yesterday.